Sneeze with your eyes open.

What do you do with that old Polaroid camera packed away on the top shelf of your bedroom closet? Can’t bear to throw it away, right? I mean, you took hundreds of pictures with that trusty One Step. Every time you pushed the button, you were giddy with anticipation to see how the picture would turn out.
Some pictures simply didn’t develop for whatever reason. Others were pretty straightforward: mom at the kitchen table. The dog at the door. Your new Buick. But then there were those amazing ghostly, streaky, over/underexposed images that you could not in a million years have predicted ahead of time how to make so magical. It all happened right there, as you watched it develop mere moments after it was taken. Those photos are the lucky ones that were displayed on the fridge for years or taped into a long-forgotten journal or sent to your reclusive uncle in Lodi. They are the reason you kept taking more.

Naturally, we here at Blue Sky were elated to learn about The Impossible Project, a European-based company that is embracing the spirit of analog photography by creating brand new instant films that fit that old camera of yours, and others like it. So in celebration of our 35th birthday, Blue Sky partnered with the good people at the Impossible Project to create a set of new, one-of-a-kind, instant photographs to be auctioned at our Birthday Reception on Friday, October 8. We put a camera and a pack of Silver Shade film into the hands of several artists–each of whom had a solo exhibition at Blue Sky–as well as a few notable Portlanders who hold Blue Sky dear to their hearts.

Here is a sample of more than 25 beautiful instant pictures our friends made for us:

How do you bid on one of these amazing photos? They’ll be available for one night only, so buy a ticket and come celebrate with us. And bid Chicago-style: early and often.

More, in the Impossible Project’s own words:

"In October 2008, the Impossible Project saved the last Polaroid production plant for integral instant film in Enschede, The Netherlands, and started to invent and produce totally new instant film materials for traditional Polaroid cameras. In 2010, Impossible saved analog instant photography from extinction by releasing various, brand new and unique instant films. Therewith Impossible does not only prevent more than 300,000,000 perfectly functioning Polaroid cameras from becoming obsolete but also changes the world of photography and keeps variety, tangibility and analogue creativity and possibilities alive. To learn more, please visit www.the-impossible-project.com or the Impossible Project Space on 425 Broadway in New York City."

Blue Sky, the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, is a nonprofit exhibition space and community research center dedicated to educating the public about photography through exhibitions, public programs, and publications, and dialogue; and to furthering the careers and artistic development of the artists we show.